3,400 new victims of tracker mortgage scandal identified

THE CENTRAL BANK has identified an additional cohort of people who have been impacted by the tracker mortgage scandal, according to its latest figures on the issue.

As at mid-March, 37,100 customers had been identified as having been affected by the scandal, an increase of 3,400 from the same figure seen at end December 2017.

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The scandal saw more the customers of the country’s banks who were affected being overcharged by their lenders when they were either denied a tracker rate they were entitled to, or charged the wrong rate of interest on their mortgage.

To date, €459 million in redress and compensation has been paid out by Irish lenders, an increase of €162 million from December.

88% of those affected by the scandal have now been offered compensation, according to the Central Bank.

63% of those redress payments totalled less than €10,000.

“We recognise the devastating effects that lenders’ failures have had on people,” said the Central Bank’s director general of financial conduct Derville Rowland.

We’re using our powers to force the banks into remedying the scandal they caused. The payment of redress and compensation to those affected is now very significantly advanced, and proceeding in line with the timelines set out by the Central Bank.

Reacting to the news, Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that “the banks still think they can get away with their theft”.

“I am deeply angry at the fact that so many years after this scandal was exposed these newly discovered cases will only be starting the compensation and redress process now due to the verification process,” he said.

(The banks) are fighting tooth and nail against their own customers to keep them excluded. That is the only logical reason 3,400 more cases have been found in the last few weeks under Central Bank pressure. CEO after CEO shedding crocodile tears does not cut it, their actions show that they are still behind the scenes challenging their own customers.